Everyday Chefs – Cooking Mala by Kemala Putri

‘Everyday Chefs’ is about showcasing people of all walks of life, and having them use our signature pastes to create any dish from their creativity. The aim of this series is to create a community of people sharing their joy in the kitchen, showcasing the versatility of our paste, and encouraging creativity. From beginners to advanced chefs, we want to show that cooking can be made easy, quick, and delicious. The most important thing of course, is to have fun while you’re at it.

The lady behind Cooking Mala.

Born and raised in Jakarta, and having lived in Singapore for awhile now, Kemala Putri is no stranger to our local food scene.

Kemala (affectionately known as Mala), spends her time teaching piano to kids, and has been passionately involved in music and the arts.

She started ‘Cooking Mala’ (@cookingmala) as an outlet to combat depression and anxiety attacks. She found that cooking was an enjoyable form of remedy – creating dishes from her kitchen made her felt at ease, and it was helping her manage her down days.

Mala started sharing recipes and photos of her meals on Instagram, where she garnered enough attention for her to start an account solely for her cooking. There was a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of satisfaction that came over her. What started as a way to help manage her down days, is now a social platform where she happily shares her cooking tutorials.

Hey Mala! Can you share with us the dishes you'll be making for us today?Today I will be making 4 dishes – Indonesian rawon, rendang peranakan, curry chicken with greek yoghurt and garlic sprout stir fry.

Growing up in Jakarta, and since then, living in Singapore, what is one meal that hits close to home? This is so hard, but rawonpretty much makes me feel like home!

Share with us your favourite Sunday meal. Something effortless and sinful, like bacon aglio olio (with extra bacon) because there’s no such thing as too much bacon. And oh! Add an additional teaspoon of truffle oil on it. Kaboom!

What is one condiment you cannot live without? Chilli shallot paste, Sambal Bu Rudy. Oh my..

Lastly, how would you describe Singapore's food scene? It’s very vibrant and multicultural! We have Chinese, Indian, Malay, middle eastern and many western delicacies. I’ve been in Singapore for more than 4 years and I’ve learnt a lot about exotic herbs and spices. I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more!